Canada

Canada, historically the Dominion of Canada, is the northernmost country in North America. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confederation.

Canada's capital is Ottawa, home of the nation's parliament as well as the residences of the Governor General and the Prime Minister. A former French then British colony, Canada is a member of both La Francophonie and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Canada is a modern and technologically advanced country and is largely energy self-sufficient due to its stores of fossil fuels, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capabilities. Its economy has traditionally relied heavily on a vast abundance of natural resources. Although the modern Canadian economy has become widely diversified, exploitation of natural resources remains an important driver of many regional economies.

Canada ranked fourth on the 2004 list of nations with the highest standard of living, behind Norway, Sweden and Australia.

Since before Confederation, Canada has operated under the principles of "peace, order, and good government."

Canada geography

Canada occupies more or less the northern half of the North American continent. It is bordered by the United States to the south and to the northwest (where it borders Alaska). The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. Canada also reaches the Arctic Ocean in the north where Canada's territorial claim extends to the North Pole.

Canada is the world's second-largest country in total area after Russia. However, it has an extremely low population density of 3 people per square kilometre as there are roughly 32 million Canadians, of whom 80% live within 200 kilometres of the American border. While Canada covers a larger geographic area than the neighbouring United States, it has only one-ninth of the population. As mentioned, Canada's vast and rich territory has led to a historical economic dependence on its natural resources.

The most fertile and heaviest-populated part of the country, the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence River Valley in the east, was the first to be settled by Europeans. To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and gouged with lakes and rivers - over 60% of the world's lakes are located in Canada. The Canadian Shield encircles the immense Hudson Bay.

The Canadian Shield extends to the Atlantic Coast in Labrador, the mainland part of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The island of Newfoundland, Canada's easternmost region, is at the mouth of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. The Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward from the southern coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, sandwiched between the Gulf to the north and the Atlantic to the south. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, an arm of the Atlantic that experiences the world's highest tides.

To the west of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread towards the Rocky Mountains, which divide the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Southern British Columbia enjoys a very temperate climate with much milder winters than the rest of the country.

Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the largest islands on Earth.

Canada has a reputation for cold temperatures. Indeed, the winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, with risks of blizzards and ice storms and temperatures reaching lows of -30°C to -40°C. (Southwestern BC is a well-known exception.) However, summers range from mild to quite hot, attaining highs of over 30°C in Montreal and 15°C even in Iqaluit, Nunavut. The country experiences four distinct seasons.